alum news

Here’s a fact that will interest those who spent Thanksgiving break binging on “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life”: Lauren Graham, who plays fast-talking, caffeine-fueled, hip mom Lorelai Gilmore, is an SMU theatre graduate who earned her MFA from Meadows School of Arts in 1992. Grab a cup of coffee and read more about the multitalented Mustang, including a 2008 interview with Graham from the SMU Magazine archives.

Olympic medalists Michael Carter ’83 and his daughter, Michelle Carter, led the Homecoming Parade on November 5 as grand marshals. SMU alumnus Michael Carter won the silver medal in the shot put in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and Michelle Carter made U.S. athletic history when she became the first woman to win gold in the shot put in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

SMU alumna Kamica King ’13 created the music therapy program at The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center in Dallas, where singing, listening and talking about music helps therapy participants deal with stress, connect with one another and feel accepted for who they are.

SMU alumni Desiree Brown ’06, ’10 and Astrud Villareal ’10 introduced scores of prospective students and their parents to campus while serving as tour guides during their undergraduate years. Now they’re helping map out a path to SMU for visiting youth as Hilltop Volunteers. The volunteer program gives Mustangs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area a platform to support their alma mater in personal and meaningful ways.

A bus ride with a group of strangers isn’t the most promising start for a great romance, but it turned out to be the right place at the right time for Marielle Perrault McGregor ’10 and her husband, Alex McGregor ’10. As first-year students in 2006, they started chatting on the trip to Mustang Corral. A few weeks later, they officially started dating. They married in 2012. “We’ve been a couple now for 10 years,” notes Marielle, “and it’s amazing to think that it all began on a bus ride.”

When SMU alumna Truett Adams ’12 was working toward her bachelor of fine arts degree in theatre in SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, one of her professors noticed her talent as a movement artist. As she tells it, he looked her in straight in the eye and told her she should run away and join the circus. She didn’t run away, but she did join the circus. The Dallas Observer profiled Truett, part of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s latest show, Circus Xtreme, which performs in Fort Worth through August 21.

Volleyball standout Avery Acker has been named the American Athletic Conference nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year award. Acker, who graduated from SMU in December, led the NCAA in assists per set while directing the Mustangs to the conference championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. She graduated summa cum laude with a 3.941 grade-point average as an accounting major with minors in chemistry and biological sciences. She begins medical school in Houston in August.

Whether it’s sharing professional expertise, hosting a gathering for area Mustangs or encouraging prospective students to enroll, SMU volunteers not only energize connections across campus but also extend the University’s legacy of success. Find out what SMU alumni have to say about how and why they represent their alma mater in their communities.